Oh, Brother
by joyusbabs
Summary: This is sort of an AU, but you'll find out what I mean by that when you read it. Damon gets turned into a 7 yr old. Stefan is determined to fix it, but when the tomb vampires are out for revenge against him and his brother, Stefan has to make sure that Damon is safe while, searching for a cure. Both brothers realize how important the other one to them. Rated T...I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1: I'm Here

**AN: PLEASE READ**

**Okay, so this story is after the events in season one, minus the tomb vampires' death. John Gilbert tried to set off the machine, but the town only managed to capture several vampires, including the mayor. Caroline is now a vampire, and Katherine is back in town. No one is even concerned with the Lockwoods right now. Oh, and Damon and Stefan are struggling to be brothers again.**

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Chapter 1: I'm Here

"Okay, tell me what happened again." Bonnie says as she sits back in her seat. She tries as hard as she can to hold back a giggle.

"Bonnie, please this is serious." Stefan urges.

"Where is he?" Bonnie asks.

"I asked Ric to stay with him." Stefan answers, "So, he's at the boarding house right now."

"Huh," Bonnie swallows her laugh, and addresses Stefan seriously, "Okay, look Stefan. I've read through and reread Emily's Grimoire, and I've also looked through my Gram's books too, and none of them even mention anything like this. Are you sure it was a spell?" Even as Bonnie was asking it she realized how stupid of a question that was.

Stefan looks at her with an exasperated expression, "Really, Bonnie?" Stefan sighs.

Bonnie rolls her eyes, "Okay, I didn't mean it like that…Do you know who did this?"

"Um…I don't know, I mean knowing my brother, he has made countless enemies over the years, it was just bound to come back on him, but honestly, I don't know." Stefan admits tiredly.

"I'll call do some more research and find out what I can, but I can't promise anything, Stefan." Bonnie says.

"Okay, thank you, Bonnie, it means a lot." Stefan gives her a weak smile and stands up, just as he's getting a call. "Excuse me." He says. Stefan answers it and is suddenly bombarded by screaming. Stefan rolls his eyes, "What's going on?"

"Put it on speaker, please." Bonnie asks.

Stefan sighs, but he complies, "Hang on, Ric." He says, and he presses a button and sets the phone down, "You're on speaker, Ric, it's just Bonnie and me." Stefan says.

"Listen, Stefan, I think your brother wants you home, he's restless and won't settle down." Ric sort of shouts over the phone.

"Don't you dare call my brother!" A second voice is heard screaming over the line.

"He's already on the phone, shut up!" Ric bellows back.

"Ric, what happened?" Stefan asks.

"He just…" Ric suddenly is not talking to Stefan, but to Damon, "Settle down or your going to hurt yourself. Stop, get down from there!"

"I'll be right there." Stefan says quickly as he stands up.

"How bad is it?" Bonnie quickly asks.

"He's going nuts, I can't control him…" Ric suddenly addresses, Damon, "Damon?" Ric asks worriedly. "Stefan, get here now!" Ric suddenly exclaims, before a gunshot is heard and the line goes dead.

"I've got to go." Stefan says suddenly.

"Take me with you, so that way I can see him, maybe I can figure this out." Bonnie says.

Stefan nods quickly, and he picks her up in his arms. She squeals as he carries her off to his house. He stops just outside of it and sets Bonnie down. The glass windows at the foot of the house are shattered inward. Stefan rushes to the door, and Bonnie trails behind him.

"Damon? Alaric?" Stefan calls as he and Bonnie rush into the house.

"Oh, look who decided to show up, Bethann." Fredrick says as comes into view.

"Looks like your babysitter is of no use anymore." Bethann says as she drops Ric's body to the ground.

Stefan quickly looks down and sees that Ric has his ring on and then refocuses his attention to Fredrick. "Where's Damon." Stefan growls.

Fredrick smiles, villainously and he pulls a stumbling, half-alive boy out of the shadows, "You know, I thought your brother was much older?"

Stefan swallows hard and steps forward, but stops when Fredrick tightens his grip on his brother's throat.

"I wouldn't." Fredrick says as he quickly tosses Damon to Bethann and she starts to rip into what's left of Damon's throat. Damon's young voice squeals in horror and his feeble attempts at fighting back, quickly fade, as Bethann sucks more and more life from Damon.

"Stop!" Stefan exclaims as he rushes at Fredrick. They get into a brutal fight, and Fredrick seems to have the upper hand, but suddenly both tomb vampires sink to the floor in pain. Stefan quickly grabs a chair breaks off the leg and stakes Bethann, and just when he turns to do the same to Fredrick he notices that he's gone.

"Bonnie, are you alright?" Stefan asks, quickly as he sees her nose bleeding, but quickly realizes the severity of the situation when Bonnie nods, but points to the limp body lying on the ground behind Stefan. She wipes her nose as Stefan turns and rushes over to his brother's side.

Stefan's eyes grow large as he takes in the severity of Damon's wounds. "Damon?" Stefan asks; as he reaches his fingers down to hopefully feel a pulse. He feels a faint one and quickly bites his wrist as another set of hands open up Damon's mouth. Stefan puts his bleeding wrist to Damon's open mouth and lets the blood drip in.

"Damon, you need to drink." Bonnie steals the words right from Stefan, but as Damon remains unresponsive, and Stefan starts to choke on sobs. She realizes that she has to do something with what energy she has left, so she starts to mutter a spell under her breath.

Stefan bites his wrist again and offers it to Damon and this time Stefan feels a small response, Damon's starting to drink. Bonnie breathes and Stefan pulls away when Damon's eyes slowly flutter open.

"Stef?" Damon asks weakly.

"I'm here, Buddy." Stefan says.

"You weren't kidding when you said Damon got turned into a seven year old." Bonnie says.

Stefan frowns in response, and Bonnie sighs as she sits back against the wall.

"Damon, you need to rest, okay, you've lost a lot of blood." Stefan says as he picks Damon up in his arms and speeds up to his brother's room. He moves the comforter out of the way and gently lays his brother down in the bed. He pulls the blankets back up and tucks them around his brother's shoulders. Stefan sits down next to his brother, as he struggles to stay awake.

"I'm sorry, Stef?" Damon says weakly.

Stefan sighs and smiles, solemnly, "It's okay, Damon, it wasn't your fault. I'm just glad your okay." Stefan says, "We'll find out who did this to you and fix it okay." Stefan says as he puts his hand to his brother's pale face and gently brushes raven hair out of the way of his brother's eyes.

Stefan stands up just as his brother's eyes flutter closed and turns to the door.

"Stefan, stay with him for tonight okay, I'll take care of things down stairs and I'll stay here too, okay." Bonnie says quickly.

Stefan nods, and he can't hold back his tears any longer. He starts to sob, and he stumbles back unknowingly into a chair.

"Stefan, Stefan?" Bonnie says as she approaches him, "Don't worry, I'll fix this, I'll find the spell to undo this and you're brother will be his old annoying, snarky self again, okay." Bonnie says, "He's weak and he needs you now, okay. You stay here with him and watch over him for tonight." Bonnie says.

Stefan nods and Bonnie stands up and smiles at him and then walks out of the room. Stefan turns to his brother and puts his hand on his brother's arm.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Day

**AN: Please Read…**

**Okay, so thanks to my first reviewer, I am posting this chapter earlier than I originally intended. I'm going to pick this up, and the next chapter will involve more action. This is not a Bamon fic, so don't get too excited. It's certainly not a Delena fic, so don't even start to think that. Anyways, I hope that for anyone reading this that they are entertained and that to show it you are planning on reviewing. I, like I said in my AN in Discovering Secrets, am not going to continue to post if there are no reviews. I like to know people's opinions, so please don't hesitate; do it for seven year old Damon and your own imaginations, because let's face it you can imagine how it's going to end all you want, but that doesn't mean that I intend for it to end that way…so, please after you finish the chapter review and tell me what you think, it can be as simple as "I hate it!" or "I love it!", I really don't care just as long as you post…so thank you, to those that do in fact review. J**

**Oh, and P.S. I'll be happy to try to incorporate any relationships that don't go with a romantic Bamon or Delena, so that's another reason why you should post a review, because who knows your idea might just be incorporated…Enjoy Chapter 2.**

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**Chapter 2: A New Day**

Stefan wakes as the first rays of sunlight come through the curtains of the large windows. He sighs and stretches and suddenly remembers the events that took place last night. He closes his eyes and wills it to have not happened. He wants to look at his brother's face and see a young face without lacking color. He opens his eyes and looks down to his brother.

Unfortunately, Damon's small head is turned away, but Stefan can tell just by listening to his brother's shallow breaths that Damon is far from being a healthy seven year old. Stefan sighs and decides to wake his brother up. He nudges his brother gently and Damon begins to stir.

Damon feels like he's exhausted and the memories of last night come rushing back to him as he opens his eyes. He was going to die at the hands of those tomb vampires, but Stefan saved him. His own brother, who he thought he'd lost by kissing Elena two nights ago. Of course it turned out to be Katherine, not Elena, much to his dismay. He blinks a few times, his eyelids feel heavy and his eyes are having trouble focusing. He suddenly remembers fully, now, he's seven not twenty-four. He sighs at the realization.

"I think we should go downstairs, maybe Ric and Bonnie are still here." Damon quickly turns his head to the side and sees that his brother is there in the chair by his side. Was his brother there the whole night?

"Okay." Damon responds. He wants to say more, but stops when he hears how hoarse and weak his voice sounds.

Stefan watches as his brother tries to feebly get out of the comforter and he moves in to help. Once he has the comforter off of his brother, Damon sits up, and Stefan knows his head must be spinning. Damon, however, tries not to let it show and sits on the side of the bed, allowing his legs to loosely hang over the side of it. He stands up and Stefan notices his will is the only thing allowing him to stand upright.

"I think I may have a lingering present from last night, courtesy of the tomb vamps, I guess." Damon offers a feeble attempt at humor.

"Well, come on, we'd better get downstairs, maybe we can get ask Bonnie to look at you and see how bad the damage is." Stefan says as he stands up and starts to walk out of the room.

Damon rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure she'd just love to help me. I am going to pinch myself if Bonnie ever wants to help me so that way I can wake up." He responds as he follows his brother out of his room. He stops after a couple steps and puts his hand on his head and groans.

"You okay?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah, no need to add another worry line to that forehead of yours, Stef…I'll be just fine and dandy." Damon responds as he forces himself to start walking. He walks passed his brother.

"Damon, you lost a lot of blood last night, if you're not feeling well, you should tell me." Stefan adds in a distressed voice.

"Please, Stefan, isn't it too early in the morning to be brooding." Damon responds as nonchalantly as he can.

_Deflecting, should've figured as much._ Stefan thinks to himself as he follows his brother down the hallway, stairs, and into the living room.

"Wow! Damon, you look really pale." Ric says as Damon enters the room.

"Ahh…nice to see you too, Ric." Damon responds as he plops down on the couch near the chair Ric is sitting on.

"Is he okay?" Ric asks turning to Stefan.

"_He's _right here, Ric." Damon says exasperatedly.

"Yes, but unlike you, he won't deflect." Ric answers, annoyed. Damon just sighs, rolls his eyes and leans back into the couch as a response. "Well, at least I know the spell didn't affect your personality."

"Nope, I'm still me, just stuck in a little body." Damon snorts back.

"Except for the vampire part." Ric adds.

Damon rolls his eyes again. "Uggh…please, Ric, you're starting to sound like my broody brother."

"Where's Bonnie?" Stefan asks.

"I think still asleep. She stayed down here until I started breathing and told me that you said it was okay to stay here—" Ric explains, but is interrupted by Bonnie.

"Hey, Ric. Oh, Stefan you're up…and Damon too, sorry, I slept in." Bonnie says as she joins Damon on the couch. "Look at you, you're a mess. Stefan, didn't you think it'd be a good idea to clean him up?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice. Come on, Damon, she's right you should be clean." Stefan says, and Damon weakly gets to his feet.

Bonnie's eyes grow large when she sees how weak Damon is. He can barely stand up. She wants to help him, but realizes that it'd probably ruin his pride, and she wouldn't want that. As annoying as Damon is, she for some reason wants him to still be Damon around her, at least then she knows how to handle him.

He takes a couple of deep breaths and walks over to Stefan.

"Oh, my gosh! You will…" Caroline starts to say as she walks into the boarding house, but stops short when she smells that all too intoxicating smell of blood. She breathes, but can't help herself she lunges toward the smell, hoping to taste it.

Ric sees this and watches as Stefan pushes Damon back in desperation. Damon hits his head on the wall, and Ric and Bonnie rush forward to him. Ric looks up at Stefan and notices him holding Caroline back.

"Caroline, breathe, please, just tell yourself you don't need it!" Stefan shouts, but stops when the smell starts to be too much for him too. He turns around and looks down at his brother, who is on the floor with a growing puddle of blood beneath him. Stefan's face starts to transform, but he turns around, with Caroline still in his arms and breathes deep breaths.

"Stefan? Caroline?" Elena's voice is heard from the doorway. "What's wrong?"

Caroline quickly snaps out of her blood craze and turns to face Elena, "Sorry, I just lost it for a moment."

Stefan snaps out of it, too, and looks at Caroline, "You should probably get a handle on that, Caroline."

Caroline bites her lip, "I still smell it, Stefan, what is that, where's it coming from?"

Stefan's eyes widen in horror as he remembers what just happened. "Damon!" He shouts as he turns around and notices his brother is lying in a growing pool of his own blood and Ric and Bonnie are fussing over his unresponsive body.

"Damon? Wait what?" Caroline asks, not understanding.

"Stefan, what's going on?" Elena says as she takes in the sight.

Stefan rushes over to his brother's body and quickly feels for a pulse, and breathes a sigh of relief when his brother has a faint one. "Stefan, you're going to have to give him blood." Bonnie says.

"I don't know what that'll do to him, Bonnie." Stefan responds, "If I give him too much he could begin to go into transition, and immortal child, is wrong by all standards. Damon wouldn't be able to handle it, and I can't deal with it if he can't because, then I'd have to take care of it." Stefan explains.

"You have too, and we'll all watch him, to look for any signs." Ric answers.

Stefan looks up and notices that Ric's face is expressing just as much worry as his voice is. "Okay," Stefan says, as he bites into his own wrist and presses it down into Damon's barely open mouth.

Damon begins to drink quickly and he groans as the wrist is pulled away. He presses his eyes closed and frowns when he hears loud talking and arms wrap protectively around him.

"We should get this cleaned up." Bonnie says.

"What's going on?" Elena asks.

"Damon somehow got turned into a seven year old and we've been trying to keep him out of trouble, first two tomb vampires attacked and now this, we're worried about how much trauma Damon can take." Ric answers quickly.

"I'll go get towels," Bonnie says as she gets up and rushes upstairs.

She wanders into Damon's room and as quietly as she can she sneaks into view of the bathroom.

"Damon?" She hears Stefan ask over the running water.

"Uggh…Stef?" She can barely hear Damon's voice.

"It's okay, Damon." She hears Stefan's voice again, but this time it's barely holding onto any composure. He sounds on the verge of sobbing.

"I can clean myself." Damon grumbles, feebly. Bonnie rolls her eyes, if she had a dollar every time Damon showed off his pride and ego, she'd be a billionaire right now.

'Humor me, Damon, please." Stefan says, his voice still on the verge of breaking.

"My head hurts." Damon moans in pain.

"I know, and I'm going to clean you up and then put you in my room…it's darker in there and closer to me, when I'm downstairs so I can hear if your distressed." Stefan explains.

"No, Stef…please." She hears Damon's weak plea.

"What's wrong, Damon?"

Silence is all that follows, but Bonnie knows what it is, he's scared. The great, egotistical Damon Salvatore is scared. She figures that she'd better leave, before she's caught, so she sneaks out unnoticed, and finds her way to the closet where she grabs a few towels and wanders back downstairs.

"Damon, what's wrong?" Stefan asks again, worriedly.

"I don't want to be left alone. You can carry me around downstairs; I just don't want to be alone because what if I'm attacked." Damon takes deep breaths in between each syllable. Stefan is exhausted just be listening to him, he can feel his brother's pain. He hates it, how much pain Damon's in.

Damon leans against the edge of the tub and sighs. Stefan holds his arm protectively around Damon in order to keep his brother above the water line. His eyes glass over, since when was his brother, his big brother scared, weak, and exhausted. He'd much rather deal with the whiny, bratty child he'd come home to yesterday morning, than this broken, and injured boy he has to support. His brother is supposed to be strong and invincible, not broken and barely hanging onto life.

He sighs and gently brushes Damon's hair out his eyes, "Okay, Damon, you can rest in my lap downstairs."

Damon only nods in response and lets his eyes flutter closed as Stefan washes him off.

Stefan watches his brother and feels the exact moment when his brother loses his battle with unconsciousness, because he's now supporting Damon's entire weight. He wipes his brother off and makes sure that he's clean. He picks him up and gently places him on the towels laid out for him on the floor. He wraps Damon in them and gently dries him off. Stefan winces when he hears his brother moan softly in pain, as Stefan makes contact with Damon's head and neck. He sighs and looks his brother's neck over. It's scabbed and bruised. He can't help it, he just starts to sob. This should not be his brother, his brother's strong.

"So, wait, we have no idea what happened?" Elena asks again.

Caroline sighs and grumbles, "That's what she said, Elena."

"Okay, okay, gosh, I'm just curious, okay; I mean this can't be easy." Elena shrugs and lounges back against the couch.

"Here comes Stefan." Caroline says. "He should be in bed, Stefan."

"I know, but I…" Stefan stutters. "I didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone. Any vampire can enter, so…"

Bonnie bites her lip, as much as Stefan has a point; she knows that Damon was afraid to be left alone. Stefan's just allowing his brother to keep whatever dignity he has left. She says nothing.

"That's a good point, should Damon stay with me, then?" Elena asks.

Stefan sits down and cradles a pallid Damon in his arms. The towels are milk white and Damon is nearly the same color.

"No, then we'd have to explain who he is to Jenna." Alaric reminds them.

"Well, he can't stay with me; I nearly tried to kill him." Caroline states.

"Bonnie?" Stefan asks.

"What?" She sighs, she knows what they're going to ask her, and as much as she wants to say no, she needs to say yes. "Alright fine, he can stay with me, my dad's almost never home, and I live alone, now that Grams is gone. So, yes, he can stay with me. Just make sure he has clothes, Stefan."

Stefan nods. Just then Damon decides to stir uncomfortably.

"How much blood has he lost?" Elena asks.

Stefan frowns, "A lot."

Caroline disappears and fills a glass with water and brings it back into the room, "You need to get him to drink as much water as he can, Stefan." She says as she hands it to him.

Stefan nods and he gently shakes his brother awake with his free arm. Damon slowly opens his eyes and Stefan helps him to sit up to prevent him from going to sleep, "Damon?"

"What?" The words didn't come out with the desired annoyance, but everyone in the room knew what it was meant to sound like.

"Caroline says you need to drink this." Stefan says. Damon leans against Stefan and nods in agreement and sticks out his hand. Stefan sees his brother's shaky hand and knows his brother won't be able to hold it, but Damon's insistence makes him place the glass in his hand.

Bonnie watches in horror as the glass proves to be too heavy and Damon can't manage to hold it. Stefan quickly catches it before it meets the floor and holds it to Damon's lips so he can drink. No one says anything, while the brothers interact.

Stefan offers small words of comfort whenever Damon starts to falter in his ability to drink the water. Damon slowly sips it dry and then collapses back into Stefan's arms.

"Okay, so you can take him to my house and put him in my bed for the rest of today, so he can rest. No one's there so he can really get some rest and sleep for the rest of the day." Bonnie offers.

"Okay," Stefan nods, "Thank you so much, Bonnie."

"You should run him over right now." Bonnie says.

Stefan nods, "I'll keep him in the towel and then I'll go to the store later today to buy clothes, and I'll give them to you." With that Stefan disappears.

"I've got to talk to Stefan, and find out how he's doing." Elena says with certainty.

"How are you doing, Ric?" Caroline asks.

"It's just weird, Damon's my friend and yet he's seven…it's hard to believe that he was such a homicidal vampire now." Ric says.

Caroline nods, she understands that Ric is probably just as worried as Elena and Stefan are, but like Damon, Ric has trouble showing his feelings.

"Okay, so the computer is in the next room, so I'll go in there and start searching for ideas." Bonnie says and stands up and briskly walks out of the room.

"Okay, Damon, you're going to stay here for a while, until we can figure out how to fix this." Stefan says as he grips Damon's hand.

"Okay, Stef." Damon replies. His eyes are still closed.

"You're going to be alone here, for a while until Bonnie comes back, and then she'll watch out for you, but don't worry because no vampire can enter this house, so you'll be safe, Buddy." Stefan explains.

Damon nods, "Thank you." Then after that, Damon falls asleep, and his hand goes limp. Stefan lets his arm fall to his side.

Stefan's vision goes blurry with emotion. He can't even begin to describe the emotion he feels. He decides to leave while, Damon is peacefully asleep. He steps out of the room, not before making sure the windows are closed and the curtains are shut over them. He then walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

He decides to go back to the boarding house and grab some money and buy some clothes. He hopes that everything will wind up being okay in the end and is thankful he has friends, who care enough about him and his brother enough to help


	3. Chapter 3: Little Trouble

**Chapter 3: Little Trouble**

Bonnie wakes up to the sound of a knocking on her door. She sighs in annoyance, _Gosh, I should not have signed up to take care of the little troublemaker, _Bonnie, however, keeps true to her commitments, so she gets out of bed and opens the door to her bedroom. It's been two days since Damon's taken up residence in her house. "Damon, what's going on, now?" She says. She takes a glance at her alarm clock and sighs, _2:00 a.m._

"I just can't sleep…I had another nightmare." Damon mumbles. He looks down and has his hands behind his back, and he stands stiff and rigid.

Bonnie's been noticing a slight change in Damon; he seems to be more rigid and less relaxed as the days progress while he's a child. Bonnie frowns, she's sure this goes deeper than her knowledge of Damon. "Damon?"

Damon looks up at her and looks right into her eyes, very stiffly, "Yes?" Damon asks, his voice a little shaky.

"Damon, why are you acting so weird?" Bonnie asks.

Damon bites his lip, "I…uh…" _Don't stutter, Boy. _ Damon swallows hard and his eyes begin to tear up, _Stop it, you're a Salvatore, and Salvatores are strong. _ "I'm sorry, I'll try not to act so weird anymore." Damon slowly turns around and starts to walk off.

To say Bonnie was confused was the understatement of the year, "Damon, wait."

Damon stops and turns around, "Yes, Fath…Bonnie?" That's where he was, he was with Bonnie, not at home. He can relax.

Now, Bonnie understands, Damon appears to be triggering a childhood memory, "Damon, do you know where you are? What year is it?" Bonnie asks. Could this spell be affecting his mind?

"I'm…" He seems to think about it for a moment, "With you, Bonnie." It sounds more like a question, not a statement.

"Damon, this isn't 18 whatever, okay, you're father isn't here, he's been dead a while, you don't need to act like…whatever you did back then." Bonnie explains.

Damon nods quickly in agreement and Bonnie slaps her hand to her face, _This is going to be a long night,_ Bonnie thinks to herself. Fear glistens in his eyes.

"Damon, listen to me you're a child now, and you have all of us, Caroline, Stefan, Elena, Ric, Jeremy, and me tied around your finger, if you want something you can most likely have it okay. You need to understand that, none of us are your Father, and so you don't need to act like that."

"Okay," Damon frowns, but nods easily and walks off to his room and shuts the door behind him.

Bonnie shakes her head and goes back to sleep. She figures that she'd have to call Stefan in the morning about this, hopefully, he's back tomorrow. Stefan went to Richmond to look for answers, and hopefully he found some and he knows what to do about Damon, because Damon appears to be regressing mentally now and Bonnie doesn't know what his father did, but he was traumatized. This can't be good. That's the last thought Bonnie has before she fully drifts off to sleep.

Bonnie wakes up to the sound of her alarm clock; it's now a school day and Bonnie has to leave Damon home alone. She gets up, brushes her teeth, takes a shower, and washes her face. She then gets dressed and wanders out into the living room. Damon appears to be still sleeping, so she figures she'll make breakfast. She immediately sets to making pancakes.

Damon wakes up to the sound of noise in the kitchen and his eyes widen in horror. _How long have I slept in? Father will not be pleased. _He thinks fearfully as he looks over at the window and sees the sun's out. He starts to breathe hard and quickly scrambles out of bed and dresses himself, brushes his teeth and makes himself look presentable and then hastily walks out of the room to the kitchen. _This looks odd, where's father? _Damon swallows hard as he takes his seat at the table.

Bonnie didn't even see or hear Damon get out of bed and sit down on the table so when she walks in carrying a plate full of pancakes and sees Damon sitting in the seat with his back to her all rigid, she sighs. She walks up to the table and sets the food down and walks back into the kitchen to get everything else: plates, forks, knives, butter, syrup, and peanut butter. She returns and sets everything down and when she sits down she looks at Damon quizzically. "Damon?"

"Yes?" Damon responds, with the same tone he did at 2:00 in the morning.

"Damon, this isn't the 1800s anymore, you don't need to act like that." Bonnie explains.

Damon physically and mentally relaxes, _Right, Bonnie said my father is dead; I don't need to worry about him and his moments of discipline anymore. _"I'm sorry, Bonnie, it's just that…well actually I don't know what it is." Damon shrugs.

"Well, we can figure that out later." Bonnie says, "I have school in about an hour so you're going to be home alone, unless Stefan is back, and I'll tell him what's going on so don't worry. He'll probably be able to figure out what's going on with you. In the mean time though, let's dig in and eat, okay." Bonnie replies.

They get done eating and Bonnie gets her books together and grabs her phone. Damon is sitting on her living room couch watching television and so she figures that this would be a wonderful opportunity to call Stefan.

"Hello, Bonnie." Bonnie hears Stefan's greeting over the phone.

"Hello, Stefan, look I am going to school today, and so your brother is going to be left home alone, and I really think that that's a bad idea, but I sort of have no choice, are you home yet?" She asks in a hopeful tone.

"Yeah, I'm back." Stefan starts, "Oh, and I think I may have found an answer, but it traces back to Isobel's research." Stefan sighs in annoyance.

"Okay, so I guess we should go to the campus and have a look at it then; Ric can help us." Bonnie suggests.

"Yeah, I guess." Stefan says, "Okay, so when are you leaving for school?" He quickly changes the subject.

"I'll be leaving in about five minutes, but your brother is watching cartoons for now, I'll tell him to sit tight until you come and get him okay…" Bonnie starts whispering and steps into the other room, "Stefan, listen to me, I don't know how far this spell is going to go, but he seems to be getting lost in time. This morning he almost called me _Father_, okay, and he's acting really rigid and fearful, like he might be hit or something. I don't know what's going on or what happened in his past, but you might want to address that." Bonnie adds.

Stefan sighs over the line, "Okay, I'll figure out what's going on with him, no worries. Thanks again, Bonnie, have fun at school." Stefan says.

"Okay, bye." Bonnie responds and she hangs up and goes into the living room. "Okay, Damon, I'll be off right now, okay, so you can sit here and watch cartoons and wait in here for Stefan. Do not leave the house okay." Bonnie explains.

Damon nods, he's too wrapped up in the cartoon to really pay attention, but as far as he can tell it's something about what she always says, stay in the house and don't go outside ever unless someone's with you.

Bonnie breathes in exasperation and then leaves.

Damon watches television for what seems like forever. He's starting to grow bored, and the more he watches cartoons the more he feels like he's going to become a zombie. This is all the same. He looks over at the door in desperation, _Come on, Stefan, get here soon please._ He sighs and leans back against the couch.

After a while longer, there's a knock at the door. Damon gets up and hesitantly opens the door, and sighs in relief once he sees who it is; it's Stefan. "Finally." Damon says in annoyance.

Stefan raises his eyebrows and chuckles, "Bored, huh?"

Damon nods, "Duh…" He says like it's obvious.

"Well, this weekend, we get to go on an adventure, with Ric, Bonnie, and Elena, to look at Isobel's research. Apparently, there's something in there that can figure this out." Stefan explains.

"Good, because I don't know how much longer I can take this." Damon replies.

"But today, I thought we'd go on a walk, just the two of us, okay?" Stefan asks.

Damon frowns; this is a new tone for Stefan, "Okay, Stef."

"Let's go, then okay." Stefan replies and he picks up Damon and runs off to the old Salvatore Estate. Once he arrives he sets Damon down before what used to be the large, grand entrance. Stefan notices Damon's shoulders go tense and he starts to back away, unknowingly right into Stefan.

"Stefan? Why are we here?" Damon asks his voice barely above a whisper.

"Bonnie says you're having relapses with your memory and I took you here so you can see that beyond a shadow of a doubt that our home back in 1864 is gone. I want you to realize this, Damon." Stefan explains.

"Okay, now we've seen it, so now we can go." Damon says quickly.

"No, we can't I want you to understand that you don't have to feel that fear anymore. Come on." Stefan says as he picks Damon up and sets him down in the center of the old ruins.

"Damon, look, open your eyes, okay, nothing here is going to hurt you." Stefan says.

Damon allows his fingers to part slightly, so he can get a look around and he slowly takes them off of his face and looks around, Stefan is right, he has nothing to fear. He breathes in relief.

"We're not done yet, though." Stefan adds.

"What do you mean?" Damon asks.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Damon?" Stefan asks as he sits down on remains of the old brick wall.

Damon sits next to him and shrugs, "I don't know, I keep imagining Father, and all of the horrible things he did, and I know I tried to shield you from that for a long time, but eventually it came out, so you know what I'm talking about." Damon explains.

Stefan sighs, "Damon, Father's dead, he's been dead since 1864, you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"I know and that's what Bonnie tried explaining to me, but I don't know it's like I can't control it." Damon bites his lip.

"Okay, I know what you need." Stefan says and Damon finds himself being carried by Stefan to an unknown location. "Here, look at that." Stefan says as he sets down his brother.

Damon follows Stefan's finger and sees a gravestone, and not just any gravestone, Guisseppi's gravestone. He frowns in realization, "What are we doing here, Stef?"

"Read it, out loud, Damon." Stefan demands.

Damon rolls his eyes, "It says, 'Guisseppi Salvatore, born 1819 and died 1864'," Damon reads it lazily.

"Okay, and I want you to think of that every time you start to think of Father, okay. He is dead and there's tangible proof for your mind." Stefan explains.

Damon suddenly smiles in realization, "Thanks, Stef."

"Okay, so let's go do something today, okay, like maybe we can walk around town." Stefan says.

Damon nods in agreement, "Sounds cool."

"Okay then, let's go." Stefan says before he runs him and his brother into town. He sets his brother down and they start walking.

"Why aren't you at school today, Stef?" Damon asks casually.

Stefan tips an eyebrow at him, "Really, you're going to ask me that?"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I just thought that you'd want to hang out in school, and be with everyone else; I mean, it can't be super fun doing this right?" Damon shrugs.

"Hey, look at me, Damon." Stefan says, and when his brother looks at him he continues, "How could you even think that, you're my brother no matter what. I'm hanging out with you, because I'm sure that you don't want to stay cooped up in a house all day." Stefan says.

Damon ponders that for a moment, "Thanks, again, Stef." He replies genuinely.

"You're welcome." Stefan replies.

"I'm sorry I kissed Elena or Katherine or whatever." Damon shrugs.

Stefan sighs, "It's okay, I know that you have feelings for her."

Damon sighs, "No, in truth I really don't. I just do stuff like that to make good on my promise of an eternity of misery." Damon laughs.

"Really." Stefan rolls his eyes, "Because you seem like you do."

"I know; I'm a really good liar." Damon explains.

"Well, I guess you are, because you had me fooled, as well as Elena, Ric, Bonnie, and Caroline." Stefan states, but notices that when he says Caroline's name his brother's eyes glass over for a second. He smiles in realization, "You like her don't you?"

"What?" Damon's face becomes red, "Who?"

"Caroline." Stefan says.

"Maybe." Damon responds in his casual tone. "Gosh, this is weird, I wish I was normal." Damon sighs.

"Yeah, it is a tad weird, but wow!" Stefan exclaims.

"Don't you dare meddle, Stefan." Damon warns, "I know you and I know that you like to meddle in these affairs, but I am warning you, stay out of it."

"Okay, okay, I will, don't worry, but when you get back to being your normal self, I think you should act on it." Stefan explains.

Damon shrugs.

"Well, if this isn't weird. Stefan?" Stefan looks up and sees Anna in front of him. Damon turns around and frowns at her. "Who are you?" Anna asks.

"Really, I know I didn't change much growing up, Anna." Damon rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"Damon?" Anna laughs when she sees him nod in response, "Oh, gosh, what did you do?"

"Annabelle?" Pearl asks as she walks up to her daughter, "What's so funny? Hello, Stefan, and…" She looks at Damon disapprovingly. "Vampires have limits, Stefan."

"Oh, no, this is—" Stefan starts to explain, but is interrupted by Anna.

"Mama, that's Damon Salvatore." Anna states, still laughing.

"I thought you were in school these days, to hang out with Baby Gilbert." Damon narrows his eyes at her.

"Schools out now, and baby, really, I don't think that you should be calling anyone a baby these days, Damon." Anna giggles.

Damon huffs in annoyance.

"What happened?" Pearl asks.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that Damon is now a seven year old, and we're trying to figure out whom and what did this to him, before he comes to any real harm." Stefan explains.

"Oh, yeah, and that reminds me, Pearl, the tomb vamps came after us the other night, and I am wondering if you know anything, spill it out now!" Damon demands.

Pearl stifles a giggle, "I know nothing, Damon, after they tortured you, Stefan, I kicked them out and haven't seen any of them since, but I'll keep an eye on them now that I know they're back in town." Pearl says.

"Okay, thank you." Stefan says, and he drags his brother away. He seems to not believe her and Stefan has to push him along. "Come on, Damon." Stefan says through his teeth.

"Fine!" Damon exclaims, and trudges off ahead of Stefan. Stefan watches him go for a moment before following.

Stefan looks back and sees that Pearl and Anna are gone and then looks back at his brother, who is still walking away from him. He sighs, _Stubborn as always_. Stefan laughs inwardly. He feels a vibrating in his pocket and while he's keeping an eye on his brother he answers it, "Hello?"

"Hello, Stefan."

"Katherine." Stefan says, matter-of-factly.

"Look, Stefan, let's bury the hatchet, okay. We both want the same thing, the tomb vamps dead." Katherine explains.

"Look, I don't have time for this right now, Katherine." Stefan says as he looks around for his brother. He doesn't see him, so he immediately thinks of the worst case scenario.

"What's wrong? I can practically hear your worry." Katherine says.

"Damon?" Stefan asks. He looks around more and sees Fredrick looking back at him, smiling, villainously. "Fredrick?"

"Stefan, what's wrong?" Katherine asks.

Stefan hangs up, realizing he's still on the phone. He rushes over to Fredrick and takes him to the forest, "What did you do to my brother?"

"I'm just finishing the job, Stefan, and getting revenge for what you did to Bethann." Fredrick explains.

"Let him go, he's…" Stefan trails off, he can't say innocent, because Damon's certainly not innocent by any standards.

"Let me know when you can finish that sentence." Fredrick states and grabs a branch and is about to stake Stefan with it, when a voice stops him in his tracks.

"Fredrick, long time, no see." Stefan looks up to see who it is. This is unexpected. Fredrick turns around angrily.

"Katherine, it has been a long time." Fredrick growls.

"Where's Damon Salvatore?" She asks casually.

Stefan rushes up to Fredrick, snatches the branch out of his enemy's grasp and shoves it into his gut, "Where's my brother?"

Fredrick laughs evilly. "Just kill me, you'll never find him."

"Stefan, do you smell that?" Katherine asks.

"What?" He frowns and twists the branch into Fredrick earning him a snarl of pain.

"I can smell him." She responds.

Stefan's face goes pale, "What?"

"He's not dead." Katherine quickly adds, "Kill him, and let's go." She adds as Stefan forces the branch up into Fredrick's heart, causing him to shrivel, gray, and die. Stefan lets him fall to the ground, and he immediately follows Katherine.

"Damon!" Stefan shouts when he sees his brother tied up against a tree, gagged, and wearing an expression of fear.

Stefan rushes over and unties his brother, only turning around once he hears signs of a struggle.

"Close one." Katherine says, "We'll be in touch, Stefan." With that she disappears.

Stefan looks down and sees another tomb vampire, and it's dead. Stefan sighs in relief and turns back to his brother, "You're just disaster prone."

Damon shrugs, and Stefan breathes in relief and then picks his brother up and heads to the boarding house, where he knows that everyone is already waiting.


	4. Chapter 4: Fun Jinx

**AN: Please Read…okay, wow! I am doing a lot of these. Anyways, I think I'm going to be making this very much a Daroline story, but then again maybe not. I don't know. I guess we'll all see. Haha. I feel like I'm almost done with this story. I thought it would have been longer, but I think that there's only going to be five more chapters at the most after this one. I am sorry about how this story seems to be lacking in just about every aspect, but then again, it's sort of supposed to get into the mode of Daroline a little better. You can let me know what you think at the end of this chapter, by reviewing at the bottom. Please be nice and review. I absolutely love to know what you all are thinking. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4: Fun Jinx

Stefan sets Damon down in the driveway of the Salvatore Boarding House. Damon groans in pain and rubs his wrists hoping to alleviate the raw skin. "You okay?" Stefan asks, his voice dripping with concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay; he just tied the ropes really tightly." Damon explains.

Stefan nods, "You've been more open lately." He finally says.

Damon looks up into his brother's eyes and frowns, "I guess I have been a little easier to read these days, but I blame that on the fact that I'm a seven year old human version of me, and not the normal twenty four year old vampire version." Damon laughs.

Stefan raises his eyebrows and grins, "Well, let's go eat, okay. Hopefully someone ordered pizza or something." He shrugs.

Damon nods, and his eyes suddenly glass over.

"What's wrong, Damon?" Stefan asks.

"I'm sorry for being such a troublemaker for everybody; it's just that I don't know what to do." Stefan watches as tears silently stream down his brother's cheeks.

"This human, seven year old thing is affecting you a lot more than we originally anticipated." Stefan tries to lighten the mood.

"Thank you, Stefan," Damon says again in the same voice he did the night he almost died. Stefan tightens his jaw and swallows. He nods in response.

"Come on it's getting cold, and I am not sitting up all night with a sick Damon!" They both turn and see Bonnie standing on the porch of the boarding house with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Race you!" Damon exclaims and he laughs and immediately runs toward the house.

"Hey!" Stefan yells, feigning jealousy before he runs after his brother.

Damon reaches the house before Stefan does and during his gasps for air he jumps up and down in excitement, "HAHA! I beat you!" He takes a breath in between each syllable.

"Yeah, okay, don't get used to it, because just wait until things are back to normal again, I'm going to beat you." Stefan says.

"Oh please, Stef, you couldn't beat me as a seven year old, face it I'm just better than you no matter what stage I'm in." Damon says over his shoulder as he walks in the doorway.

"Well, things seem to be going well, have there been any relapses with his memory since he's been with you?" Bonnie asks.

"No, and I think I took care of it." Stefan says proudly.

"Really," Bonnie grabs his arm before he walks into the house, "What did you do?" She asks curiously.

"I took him to the old ruins of the Salvatore Estate and I took him to see Giuseppe's gravesite and made him read it aloud. I think his mentality is slowly regressing, because I've noticed that he's starting to act more like he did when he was human, but I think I definitely slowed it down." Stefan sighs.

Bonnie nods, "If he ever, you know, thinks about his father again and confuses his memories…what should I do?"

Stefan frowns, "It's complicated, Bonnie." He starts as he closes the door so he and Bonnie can talk in private. Hopefully, Caroline isn't listening in, but that doesn't really bother him as much as he thinks it should.

"Why?" Bonnie presses.

"Our father used to beat him, when he was human. He would try to hide it from me, but during our period of actually being close over the last century, I got him drunk and asked him why he's so against closeness, and he spilled the beans to me. He remembers that he told me, he just thinks that he generalized it, which I can tell you for certain that he didn't." Stefan explains.

"Your father would beat him, but he's so young and so…" Bonnie couldn't find the right words.

Stefan frowns, "I know, if he ever goes out of it for a second don't touch him or he'll flinch, thinking that he's going to be hit, but try to remind him of some good memory between the two of you. He's with you at your house, so try to trigger a very recent, happy memory with you, so he can have tangible evidence as to why it would be real." He frowns.

Bonnie nods, "I'll keep you posted if he ever, you know." She shrugs and Stefan opens the door and they walk through it.

Stefan looks around the living room, upon entering it and notices that his brother is sitting on the couch, happily eating a piece of pizza. He's laughing too, which is nice to see. Stefan smiles as he takes a seat next to his brother.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"Damon was just telling us a story of when you two were kids." Alaric laughs.

"Oh, really, what'd he tell you, nothing embarrassing I hope?" Stefan rolls his eyes, when he sees them all start busting up in laughter. _Oh, yeah, definitely embarrassing_. Stefan thinks to himself. He leans back into the sofa and smiles.

"You really don't want know, Stef." Damon confesses.

"Oh, trust me it's probably better if I didn't so that way I can't tell an embarrassing story about you to rival it." Stefan playfully threatens.

Damon looks at Stefan with wide eyes, "Oh, gosh."

Stefan smiles, and just when he's about to open his mouth to tell an embarrassing story, Elena asks a question first.

"What's wrong with your wrists, Damon?" Elena asks. Everyone's gaze is now directed toward Damon's raw skin on his wrists as he incessantly rubs them.

"We had a little run in with Fredrick and the ropes were rough and tied too tight, but luckily he was saved before any damage could be done." Stefan explains.

"Fredrick? The one that attacked the other night?" Alaric asks.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it because he and his partner are both dead." Stefan explains.

Everyone in the room nods.

"Okay, enough of this!" Caroline finally screams.

Everyone turns to her, "What?" Elena asks.

"Let's play a game, okay, because I am absolutely bored of this grim atmosphere that has been hanging over us for forever."

Elena rolls her eyes, "Caroline, we're just concerned, is all."

"Okay, and that's more than okay, but tonight we're going to play Taboo and we're going to laugh and have fun." She announces, stands up and looks around the room. "Okay, so let's pick teams."

"I have to say that Damon and I have never played this game, so do not pair us up on a team." Stefan explains and Caroline deadpans them.

"What?" she asks.

"What, it's not like we didn't have fun." Damon defends.

"Okay, then Damon you'll be on my team, since I'm the best at the game, and Stefan and Elena can be together and Ric and Bonnie can be on a team." Caroline states, matter-of-factly.

Stefan smiles at his brother as he walks over to sit next to Caroline. Damon looks at his brother after he sits down and notices the big smile plastered on his little brother's face, and he gives Stefan a "shut-up or I'll kill you" look. Stefan rolls his eyes and just smiles.

"Damon," Caroline starts, "I'm the best at this game, and I am going to be on your team, because I tried to kill you; it's the least I can do." She finishes.

Damon frowns, "You didn't try to kill me, it was the big idiot over there who thought it would be smart to push me against a corner of the wall with vampire strength."

Stefan rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Okay, so is everyone ready?" Bonnie asks; she doesn't exactly want a fight between the brothers to happen right now.

"Okay, so I'll go first, and Bonnie you can make sure that I say none of the words." Caroline starts.

"Oh, gosh!" Ric suddenly exclaims, directing everyone's attention over to him.

"What?" Bonnie asks, quickly. Damon frowns in confusion.

"I am a pathetic excuse for a teacher. I'm hanging out with my students on a school night, distracting you all from doing your homework." Ric laughs.

"I'm not your student." Damon announces.

"No, but for the moment, you're not exactly in the same boat with me, adult wise, because you're a seven year old, and I'm about to team up with a student of mine in order to play a card game." Ric chuckles in defeat.

"Look, guys can we play or not?" Caroline asks exasperatedly.

"Yes." Ric answers as he rolls his eyes. He knows he should feel weird, but the odd thing is, is that he doesn't. He actually doesn't mind being here; in fact he finds it to be enjoyable.

Suddenly as Caroline is starting to try to get him to guess the word or phrase on the card, Damon busts up into laughter. Caroline pauses, and everyone looks at him. They can't help but smirking as Damon's laugh slowly calms down.

"What's so funny?" Stefan asks.

"Nothing, Stef…you don't them to know." Damon smirks at Stefan.

"Okay, an embarrassing story about Stefan, now you have to tell." Caroline pleads.

"Oh, gosh I already know what it is!" Stefan says after a moment of staring into his brother's eyes.

"Okay, now we have to know." Bonnie states.

"No, he's right I don't want you to know." Stefan quickly adds.

"Actually, Stefan, I think it might be cool to tell them about our past." Damon smiles deviously.

Stefan shakes his head quickly, but his brother already has his mouth open, "Okay, so when we were human, and I was around seventeen, and my brother was around ten we were home, and our father was entertaining the founding families, and the maid walked in and Stefan told me…" Everyone's sitting quietly in anticipation, when all of a sudden Damon lets his voice trail off and becomes silent. His eyes grow large and his breathing becomes quick and stressful.

"What's going on?" Caroline asks hastily.

Stefan is on his knees in front of his brother in second. He lightly slaps Damon's cheek. He knows exactly what that look means, and he knows that the only person ever to be able to successfully give it to Damon, was their father.

"Hey, Damon, look at me." Stefan pleads as calmly as he can. Damon looks down at his brother, but nothing changes about his mood or expression, in fact Damon looks confused. "Damon?" Stefan asks with worry.

"Stefan?" Caroline quietly asks, "What's going on?"

"Who are you?" Damon asks in a quiet, fearful voice.

Stefan closes his eyes for a second, "Damon, it's your brother, Stefan, can't you remember?"

Damon is suddenly shedding tears, and everyone quickly gets up to go to him, but Stefan lets go of his brother and backs away, signaling everyone to stay back. They all reluctantly comply and suddenly Damon has his face buried in his hands, while he sobs.

"Damon, listen to me, I am your brother, Stefan, and these are our friends. Father is not alive. Do you remember what we talked about earlier…where we were?" Stefan asks again.

Damon looks up at Stefan and frowns, "Stef?" Damon asks hesitantly.

Stefan breathes in relief, "That's it, Damon." He then embraces his brother and Damon seems to try to hide in his arms.

"What was that?" Elena asks.

"Damon appears to be having memory regressions and we have no idea how to stop it or what its outcome is going to be." Bonnie explains.

"Is he okay?" Ric asks.

"I hate this!" Caroline exclaims, "I want to have a day with no drama, for once. Okay, you know what, new rules just in no talking about your past, Stefan, and Damon, everything is going to be okay, you need to believe this. We are going to go to Isobel's research, tomorrow and have a look at it. Ric, you need to get off work tomorrow. It will be Stefan, you, Damon, and me."

"Why you?" Elena asks, "Why not anyone else?"

"Well, because, Elena, you and Bonnie need to go to school." Caroline states matter-of-factly.

Elena's about to argue, but Bonnie just signals her to shut up, and she reluctantly complies.

"Stefan, he should stay here tonight…I'll stay and call my mother and let her know. You two on the other hand," She looks over at Bonnie and Elena, "It's getting late so you two should go home and we can discuss more tomorrow night after we get back."

Bonnie and Elena nod and leave shortly afterwards, because they know that there is no use arguing with Caroline when she is like this. "Stefan, Damon is sleeping now, so why don't you take him up to his room and stay with him through the night. Ric and I will each take a bedroom for the night and we'll all go together in the morning." Caroline states.

Stefan nods and looks down at the small boy huddled in his arms, and sighs. "It will be okay, Stefan." Caroline adds and Stefan nods and is off a second later with Damon cradled in his arms.

"This is so weird seeing Damon like this." Ric thinks out loud.

Caroline looks over at him and frowns, "What do you mean?"

"It's just odd, this spell, and what it's doing to him. However, one thing is for sure, I'm definitely going to hassle Damon about this when I know this is all over." Ric chuckles.

Caroline can't help but laugh at that. "I think we all are, except for Stefan." She adds.

Stefan sets his brother down in the large bed and covers him up. Damon snuggles into the warmth and doesn't even wake up. Stefan watches his brother sleep before he himself falls to sleep in the chair beside Damon's bed.


	5. Chapter 5: Research

**AN: Wow! Okay, never thought I would get this much feedback on this story. As for my story Discovering Secrets, I am terribly sorry for those of you who are reading it, but I am going to be stopping that story for a while, at least until I regain some inspiration and after this story is over. However, I'm having fun writing this story and may continue this one for a little longer than 5 more chapters. I hope you all continue to review. I will try to post every weekend, so now you know when to expect them, at least no later than Monday night. The number of chapters I post may vary though, so…don't expect me to be constant. Anyways, I am so happy with all the feedback. Please enjoy this next chapter. Oh, and thank you for reading the AN. I know, I know that the story's more interesting, but these are important for me so thanks and once again enjoy. Also, don't foget to review...I thrive on it. Thank you, again.**

Chapter 5: Research

"Uggh…please turn it off!" Damon finally screams at full volume. He's been in the car with Caroline Forbes for the last twenty minutes and he's already ready to jump out onto the freeway. He doesn't want to be in the middle of this. The music is stupid. This is his brother's brilliant idea. Considering that the only cars that the Salvatore's own are sports cars and are two-seaters it was the only option. Of course his brother forces him to ride with Caroline Forbes, _why'd I even tell him of my feelings anyways. I can't wait until this stupid spell or whatever is broken and I can return to my normal self._ Damon thinks to himself

"Why it's good music." Caroline says in response.

Damon shakes his head, "No, it's annoying and lame…and the lyrics couldn't be worse. I don't want to hear this. The lyrics are cool for a party, where you can't hear them over other people's partying."

Caroline sighs, "Fine, since I owe you, and didn't get to repay you last night, you choose the music." She says.

Suddenly Damon goes quiet and Caroline can't help but think to herself, _Did I just trigger another episode? How am I supposed to deal with it; oh, gosh, do I need to call Stefan?_ Caroline looks over at Damon, who seems to be twiddling his thumbs nervously, "Damon?" She asks hesitantly.

"Yeah?" He asks. She can breathe again, it's just Damon being…_nervous?_ Caroline frowns, Damon Salvatore is anything and everything but nervous, scared, or at a loss for words.

"Damon, what's wrong, I just said you could pick the music." Caroline says as she turns the music so far down, that it's practically unable to be heard anymore.

"It's just that here you didn't try to kill me and you're trying to repay me, and I tried to kill you like a year ago or whatever, and I haven't even begun to try to repay you for that." Damon hesitantly replies.

Caroline frowns, "Damon, I've forgiven you for that, in fact I thought it was sort of an unspoken thing between us, that we both just moved on and there were no hard feelings."

"Really?" Damon asks.

"Yes, but I guess if it's been weighing on you for some time now, do you want to talk about it?" Caroline asks.

"I don't know, I mean if we've both moved on then I suppose we don't have to." Damon says.

"Hey, it's cool with me; I just want to know that you've moved passed it." Caroline explains.

"I am sorry, Caroline." Damon says shyly.

"It's okay, and thank you, Damon…that means a lot, especially coming from you." Caroline says.

"Uggh…I hate being seven, it seems like I am just a sitting duck." Damon sighs and shakes his head.

Caroline frowns and looks down at him for a second, but then refocuses her attention on the road. "Damon, listen, all will be better in a little while, we're going to look through Isobel's research and find something that can reverse this."

"You know, you were ready to pay me back after you almost killed me, but I haven't gotten a chance to repay you for all the times I tried to kill you." Damon points out.

Caroline smiles…_Awe, Damon's being cute._ "Really?" She asks innocently.

"Yup…" Damon says, popping the 'p'. "I am going to fix that though." Damon says resolutely.

"How're you going to do that?" Caroline asks curiously.

"How does an 1800's dance sound do you?" Damon asks shyly.

Caroline has to keep her face from going red, and she looks at him, "I remember when I was 'dating' you, and you said you don't dance."

"Oh, come on Caroline, you and I both know that was solely just to piss Stefan off." Damon answers with amusement.

Caroline laughs, "Well, it worked, but I don't want to go dancing with someone who can't dance."

Damon frowns, "I am from the 1800's, Caroline, I think I'm generally expected to be able to dance, and for the record I can, and I am very good at it." He explains pompously.

Caroline nods and grins, "Okay, then I'll take you up on that…when you're you again, you'll take me to an authentic 1800's dance." She says.

"Okay then." Damon nods.

"Do you wanna choose the music?" Caroline asks.

"Sure, why not." Damon says and he picks up Caroline's ipod and starts surfing through the songs. He sighs and Caroline looks over at him, "Don't you have any good stuff on here, it's all pop and dubstep." He shakes his head disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry I don't have Beethoven, but those are good songs." She counters.

"Beethoven?" Damon laughs, "I may be from the 1800s but that does not mean that I don't listen to contemporary music, Barbie."

"Okay, well, what do you like?" Caroline asks.

"Alternative is pretty cool, and so is rock." Damon answers.

"Okay, well how about this new song, I just got it and it's really good…it's sort of alternative, at least it's sung by an alternative band." She suggests.

"Sure, why not, it's probably better than anything else you've got on here. What's it called?"

"Madness by Muse." Caroline answers.

"Okay." Damon says as he surfs her ipod and puts it on. He listens to it for a moment before giving Caroline a quizzical look. "What is this?"

"It's a good song!" Caroline quickly defends.

"I'm not saying it isn't, it's just different that's all." Damon smirks.

"Yes it is." Caroline smiles.

"So, Damon, I think we should play the question game." Caroline says.

Damon frowns, "No, I don't agree."

"Oh, fine, we can just enjoy the music then."

"Thank you." Damon says as he leans back into his seat and rests his eyes.

They make it to the campus a while later. Caroline thinks Damon fell asleep after a while, because his breathing is calm. She wanted to wake him earlier, but figured that with all that's happened he needed the rest, but now that they've arrived at the campus she parks and gently nudges him awake.

"Damon?" She quietly asks.

Damon blinks his eyes open. Did he sleep the whole way there? He looks at the person who woke him up and frowns at nothing in particular. "Are we there yet?" Damon asks.

Caroline raises her eyebrows, "Yes, we're there." She answers just as her phone rings. She answers it, "Hello?...Oh hey, Stefan?...Yeah we just got here…Damon had a little nap, but he's awake now…Are you here, too?...Oh, okay, where are you?...Okay, we'll see you in less than a minute." Caroline hangs up the phone.

"Your brother was worried about you." Caroline says.

Damon thinks about that for a moment. "What makes you say that, none of your responses made me think that?"

"Just his tone of voice." Caroline says, "You know, Damon, you don't give yourself enough credit, you have a brother that cares unconditionally for you. I mean what did he do on Founder's Day? Rescue you from a burning building." Caroline explains. "At his own risk, might I add."

"Yeah, I guess so, but I—" Damon is interrupted.

"No, but's Damon, try to think of your brother as more, I'm sure you love him too." Caroline explains.

Damon frowns at that, "I do love my brother."

"I don't think he knows that." Caroline says in a small voice.

Damon's eyes grow large, but before emotions overcome him he opens the door and gets out, "We should get going, they're probably wondering where we are." He says quickly as he closes the door behind him.

Caroline sighs and follows him seconds later. "Hey, Ric. Stefan." She says as she and Damon approach them at the door of the building.

"Hey," Stefan grins, "So, Damon, heard you had a nice nap?"

Damon doesn't respond and instead he just brushes passed Stefan and goes into the building. Ric runs in there after him and Stefan looks at Caroline perplexed. "What was that?"

"I don't know." Caroline shrugs.

Stefan nods and walks into the building and Ric introduces them to a woman named Vanessa. She eyes Damon and Stefan warily, but she says nothing of it as she leads them into the room where all of Isobel's research is.

"I'll go get the light." She says quickly as she leaves the room. Ric and Caroline start looking through the stuff, and Stefan turns to his brother.

"What's wrong, Damon?" He asks worriedly.

"Nothing, just leave it okay!" Damon exclaims.

Before Stefan has a chance to respond, Caroline shouts his name, "Stefan!" He looks over at her and frowns and then he feels an arrow penetrating his chest and grunts as he falls to the floor.

Damon stands in shock as Ric rushes over to Vanessa and pins her down. Damon looks down at his brother with a scared expression. "Stefan?" Caroline asks as she softly nudges Stefan, but he doesn't respond.

Tears come to Damon's eyes as he kneels down next to Stefan and grabs the arrow from the front and as hard as he can he manages to pull it out. Stefan shoots up with a grunt and clutches his hand to his chest. Damon throws the arrow aside and immediately embraces his brother. "Caroline's right!" Damon exclaims. "You would've died never knowing that I never hated you, that you were always my brother no matter what. I love you, Stefan!" Damon cries.

Stefan looks confused as he gazes at Caroline, "Damon, it's okay." he says quickly.

"I'm going to go yell at her for shooting you." Damon says as he rushes into the other room.

Stefan wants to hold his brother back, but Damon's gone before he can manage to comprehend what just happened.

"Here, Stefan." Caroline says as she helps him up. Stefan looks at Caroline with a frown.

"What did you do?" Stefan asks her hastily.

"I merely told him that he shouldn't use his time to hate you." Caroline replies in a small voice.

Stefan sighs, but internally he is beyond happy, "I guess we should get in there before Damon does something horrible." He says as he walks toward the door and sees Ric, Vanessa, and Damon talking.

"This is Stefan Salvatore, who you just shot." Ric quickly says as he and Caroline join them in the room and sit down on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, by the way. Damon made it very clear to me that if I didn't say that he would come back for me when he was back to normal." Vanessa says as she ducks her head shyly.

Damon glares at her, "You weren't supposed to add that." He frowns.

Stefan rolls his eyes and laughs, "Hey, Vanessa, no hard feelings, I get that it would be startling to see a person who supposedly died about a century and a half ago." He offers the girl his hand and she shakes it and smiles.

"You know you're very nice, considering the fact that your shirt is ruined and you were just shot." Vanessa grins.

"Okay, now down to pressing matters." Ric says, "We did come here for some assistance, because as you probably know Damon is supposed to be twenty four not seven, so can you help us with this." He motions to Damon.

"Yes, but first I need to know what exactly is happening." Vanessa replies.

"Okay, well this spell appears to be messing with him both mentally and physically. He is supposed to be a twenty four year old vampire, but he is a seven year old human and not to mention the fact that he sometimes can't remember where he is." Stefan explains, his voice on the verge of worry.

"Okay, I think I know what is going on, it's an old spell, meant to be cast on those who are hated. The spell is supposed to gain revenge on the subject, but the witch that cast it must have been very powerful, and as for the seven year old thing." Vanessa pauses and then looks up at Stefan, realization hitting her, "The spell cannot be tracked, but it is reversible if you have a witch strong enough to do it, as well as the spell that causes this. However, back to him being a seven year old, Alaric tells me that you're seventeen?" Stefan nods slowly in agreement, "Okay, well, this has been designed beautifully. You see you weren't around when Damon was seven, so when the memory regressions become more and more frequent he'll soon lose track of reality and not even you will be able to bring him back, because he won't know you." Vanessa explains.

"When exactly is this supposed to happen?" Stefan presses.

"Well, normally there are a few regressions to begin with and they are able to be easily pushed away, but that is normally meant to keep you from seeing the true side-effects."

"Which are?" Ric asks quickly.

"He'll start to revert back to his human state, his human personality. He'll start to forget things, at first it'll be small, but after a while you'll start to notice the difference." Vanessa adds.

"Well, how long is this going to take, and will this be reversible once he's turned back to normal."

"I don't know, but I do know that the more trauma he is caused and the more he is reminded of his past, the more and more this will happen to him." Vanessa says.

"So, I'm being slowly destroyed from the inside out?" Damon asks, his eyes wide with fear.

"Don't worry, Damon, we'll keep you out of trouble and find a way to fix this." Stefan adds as he gets down to his brother's eye level and puts his hand on his shoulder.

Damon instantly flinches and his hand begins to tremble. Stefan notices this and removes his hand and raises his eyebrows.

"What's happening?" Caroline asks.

Damon's expression becomes vacant, and Vanessa immediately takes action, "He's panicking. This can cause regressions. Stefan, you need to calm him down."

Stefan puts his hand on Damon's cheek, but he cowers away from it and looks into Stefan's eyes fearfully, "Please stop, I haven't done anything." Damon pleads softly.

"Damon, this isn't 1847 anymore, it's me it's your brother, Stefan." Stefan says.

"Do these regressions exhaust the victims?" Caroline asks.

"They do, the longer they last and the more intense they are, they can cause fainting or dizziness, but they always cause more and more memory lost, but like I said it's not as drastic." Vanessa answers.

"What do we do?" Caroline asks as she looks back at the brothers.

"I don't know." Vanessa shrugs.

"Damon? Damon, look at me." Stefan orders softly as he once again reaches out to Damon.

Damon instantly recoils, "Get away from me!" He pushes Stefan back and jumps off of the chair and runs toward the door.

Stefan is quicker though and picks Damon up and holds him down. "Damon, snap out of it!" Stefan shouts a little too forcefully.

Damon's eyes grow wide with fear and he immediately starts to squirm as sobs escape him. "Please, I didn't do anything!" He screams as he cries and he succumbs to exhaustion.

"Damon, listen to me." Stefan says as he places Damon on his feet and looks him in the eyes, "We're brothers, and I would never do anything to hurt you."

Damon looks at his brother with understanding and recognition, "Stef...I…" Damon barely manages to choke out, before his eyelids start to flutter and he collapses into Stefan.

Stefan watches as his brother's panicked expression becomes calmer and he hears his brother's weak voice before he loses consciousness in Stefan's arms and falls into them. He scoops his limp body up into his arms and looks back at Ric, Caroline, and Vanessa, who are at a loss for words.

"Stefan, you should start heading home with him, and I'll go back with Caroline. We'll try to find out what's going on with him, okay, and head back as soon as we can." Ric says. He looks down at Damon's limp body and feels a lump form in his throat. This is his friend, his drinking buddy, and his ally.

"It'll be okay, Stefan." Caroline says warmly as she walks up to the brothers and tentatively places a kiss on Damon's brow.

Stefan nods and lets out a choked sob. His brother's being dismantled and destroyed right before his very eyes, and he can't do anything about it. He hugs his brother to his chest and walks out of the building to his car.

Vanessa watches him go, and looks at Caroline and Ric, "Okay, I didn't want to say this in front of Stefan or Damon, but the two of you need to know this. This spell just doesn't cause memory lost and de-aging." She hesitates when she sees their expressions, but she continues a moment later, "It will kill him, slowly. It will drain him of his energy and he will pass away quietly, but not peacefully. I don't know the point of this specific spell, but whoever cast this, had the intention of dismantling Damon, his family, and his friends. I'll give you all the information I have of this spell, but I can't help you anymore than that." Vanessa explains.

Caroline swallows, "He'll die?" Vanessa nods.

"How long does he have, do you know that?" Ric asks quickly. He fears the answer.

"By the looks of it, not long. If his episodes are constantly like that and his behavioral differences are getting more and more pronounced, then he should…you know…by next Saturday." Vanessa explains.

"That's in a week!" Ric exclaims.

Vanessa shrugs, "I'm telling you what I've heard. Here's your information, though. Give it to a witch and they should be able to figure it out." She says as she hands them a box of info, mostly grimoires.

"Thank you, Vanessa." Ric and Caroline say together as they take the box from her and walk out of the building to the car.


	6. Chapter 6: Be Strong

Chapter 6: Be Strong

Damon hasn't woken up yet and Stefan is wondering what that could all entail. Is his memory disappearing the more he rests? Stefan can't even think about it. He could be losing his brother, no correction, he is losing his brother. When he arrived late last night, Stefan put a limp Damon in his room, so he could at least be somewhere dark when he wakes up. Stefan sat in a chair beside his bed never removing his eyes from Damon's form. Ric and Caroline got in later than he did, and came in to check on him. They also told him the information that he missed when he left. His brother's going to die, and they have to rely on a few snippets from a box of papers and grimoires.

Damon's eyelids however start to flutter and he moans softly. Stefan swallows and readies himself for whatever state his brother's about to be in. He sits straighter and leans a little inward.

"Damon?" He asks gently.

Damon looks over at his little brother and assesses the expression on his face. It's full of fear, regret, and something Damon can't quite understand. _Regret, what has he to regret?_ Damon frowns and swallows, "Stef?"

Stefan seems to breathe a little easier; at least he still remembers him. "Hey, Damon, how do you feel?"

Damon shakes his head, "Not good, Stef." Damon answers.

Stefan nods in understanding, "Okay, well, do you remember what happened yesterday?" He gently prods.

Damon frowns and contemplates it for a moment before nodding. "I remember, sort of. It all seemed to go black after a while though. I remember that woman telling us stuff and then things get really foggy after that." Damon explains.

Stefan nods and lets out a small sob, "Okay, well I can smell something cooking downstairs, so do you want to go downstairs and get a bite to eat?"

Damon nods and smiles, "Okay." He says as he sits up. He immediately clutches his head and groans, "Uggh…what is this? Why am I so dizzy?"

Stefan closes his eyes for a moment, allowing the reality of the situation to sink in. His brother's dying right this very minute. "It's okay, Damon, it must be just some sort of after effect of the episode you had yesterday." Stefan lies.

Damon frowns and looks over at him, "I certainly hope that this isn't always going to happen, because I don't know how much longer I can take any of this. Oh, by the way, did Vanessa have anything to contribute to this? Is there a fix-it spell?" Damon asks, quickly changing the subject.

Stefan wants to sob; he really does, but has to be strong for what may very well be the last week his brother has to live. "She gave us some papers and notes, but nothing that has been of any benefit so far."

Before Damon can respond to that, there's a knocking at the door. "Come in." Damon says.

The door opens and reveals a distraught looking Caroline, "Damon, what are you still doing in bed. Let's get you downstairs, there's food and things cooking. We can all have a nice breakfast." She says as jovially as she can.

Damon frowns, "What is this? You're all acting like something's wrong by not addressing it. You're all acting weird, what is it?"

"Nothing, Damon, I just thought that we should grab a bite to eat and sit down as friends. Caroline and Alaric stayed the night, because they wanted to see you well, and I decided that it might not be such a bad idea, because you're going to need the support, especially since there are at least twenty other vengeful vampires running around." Stefan explains vaguely.

Damon nods, "Okay?" He slowly gets out of bed, and feels weaker than normal. "Must be tired." Damon mutters to himself as he very slowly makes his way out of the room and down the stairs.

Caroline watches him go with a grim expression, _He's dying._ That's all she can think about. He's moving so slowly and he looks so pallid and drawn. This is direr than any of them expected. She wants to help in whatever way she can. She turns back to Stefan and sees his wide eyes and his lost expression. _Wow! Stefan really is the younger brother._ She's worried for both of their fates, because she's learned from her observations that Stefan goes nearly crazy and insane from the mere thought of losing his brother, but he always finds a way to fix it, to come out on top and still keep his brother alive somehow, but now he can't do anything to help his terminal older brother. His brain and his instincts must be driving him mad right now. She's wondering what the rest of her existence will be like without Damon Salvatore, too. Without his cockiness, without his egotistical pride and his sarcasm. She's wondering what life will be like without her sire, and then the thought hits her, her sire. What does that mean for her, if he dies? She knows she won't die if he dies, so that's not the problem. No, it goes much deeper than that, to a part she can't quite understand.

"We should get down there." Stefan says, breaking her train of thought as he stands up and walks by Caroline.

Caroline lingers for a moment and vows to keep Stefan from going off the deep end, should this not end up well for Damon, before she follows Stefan down the stairs.

Stefan decides that as he descends the stairs he is going to put on a cheerful and optimistic front for Damon. Damon doesn't need the stress, and Stefan's going to fix it anyway. He always does. He's managed to get his brother out of every predicament that comes their way. This situation should be no different. He finally makes his way into the dining room and sees Damon sitting at the table, with his head in his hands. "Headache?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah, but I'm sure it's just from whatever happened yesterday, and that it'll wear off soon." Damon mutters.

Stefan's takes a deep breath and before Damon can ask him what is going on with him, he speeds into the kitchen only to see Ric, Bonnie, and Elena cooking.

Elena is the first to notice Stefan's presence and she looks over at him with a saddened expression. She runs to comfort him. "Oh, Stefan, I'm so sorry." She whispers as she envelopes him into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, though, all we have to do is keep him calm, make sure that nothing sets off another episode, and I'll find a way to fix this in the meantime." Bonnie says resolutely.

"Bonnie, I want to thank you for all you've been doing to help us, I mean, you don't exactly like Damon, but here you are helping him. I can't express to you how grateful I am." Stefan says.

"Hey, we're not going to be stressed around him or get him worked up. We're going to eat and be happy and show Damon that he has nothing to worry about." Ric interjects.

They all nod in agreement.

"I looked through the box that Vanessa gave you and there appears to be some things missing, but it doesn't look like they've been ripped out or destroyed, it just looks like they weren't there to begin with." Bonnie explains, "It's like the spell is suggestive or made up."

Stefan frowns, "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm going to need as much time as I can get." Bonnie says sadly.

Stefan's jaw clenches, and Elena notices the change in her boyfriend's persona immediately, "We don't have that much time, Bonnie."

"I know, but I'm trying, Stefan." She says.

"But you can fix this right?" Ric asks.

"I can as soon as I figure it out." Bonnie explains.

"Hey, let's all calm down, and take it one day at a time. Damon's alive right now, so let's enjoy our time together." Elena suggests.

Stefan frowns and looks at her with incredulity in his countenance, but before anyone can respond there's a loud crash through the window in the dining room and a scream followed by immediate struggling. They all dash into the room only to see the house filled with vampires. Caroline is trying her best to protect Damon, but she appears to be failing as one of the vampires rushes at her and pushes her aside, grabbing Damon by the throat and holding him in the air.

Damon's legs kick and swing at the vampire holding him, but before the vampire can do any real damage Stefan rushes at the vampire, pushing him to the ground and sending Damon flying into the wall.

Damon's shriek fills the room and he immediately rubs his head and reveals that he's bleeding from a head injury once again. All the vampires in the room immediately notice and Stefan and Caroline struggle to keep them all away from Damon.

"All we want is the Salvatore's, little girl, so step aside and save yourself." A vampire growls menacingly at her.

Ric is behind Stefan and Caroline with a stake in his hand ready to fight and Elena is hugging Damon close to her, while Bonnie standing protectively in front of them with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

Two vampires immediately make it past Stefan, Caroline, and Ric, but before they can get anywhere near Damon they fall to the ground clutching their heads in pain. Bonnie has her full concentration on giving aneurisms to the two demons.

Another vampire rushes at Bonnie and grabs her by the neck and pins her to the wall, breaking her hold over his two friends. They rush at Elena and Damon, but stop when they realize that they're gone.

"Bonnie!" Caroline shouts as she sees her friends trying to fend off the vampires now encroaching on her.

Three vampires rush to find Elena and Damon, and Stefan can only watch them go as he struggles with four vampires himself. His diet isn't helping in his fight, and Caroline can barely manage one, since she is so young and inexperienced. Bonnie is desperately trying to use her powers on as many of her attackers as she can, and Ric is desperately trying to stake the vampires attacking him. It seems that Elena and Damon are on their own.

"Run, Damon!" Elena screams as she is overtaken by a vampire.

Damon turns around and sees Elena, his brother's girlfriend trying to fight her way out of a very old and very powerful vampire grip and he also notices that she's failing. He turns around to help, but then two vampires come up to him and grab him. A vampire immediately viciously bites into Damon's neck, causing Damon to let out a shrill scream of terror as the vampire pulls away almost just as quickly.

**AN: Okay, I hate to say this, but I think I'm going to be ending this story within the next couple chapters, but don't worry there will be a sequel. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and yes, I realize I'm not exactly good at describing action scenes, but hopefully this was still good. Hopefully, I'll end this story by the end of next weekend, and get the sequel up as soon as possible. **


	7. Chapter 7: Survival Tactics

**AN: Okay, so this chapter may be a tad confusing, so let me address the issues here. Hopefully, you are reading this, and if you aren't then, oh well. Anyways, this chapter back tracks to when Caroline was in Stefan's room, realizing what Damon means to her, and it goes deeper into her thoughts. It also shows what Damon and Caroline were talking about while the others were in the kitchen. So, it's before the fight. In addition for those of you who have read this story and are wondering, "What does Damon's father have to do with his crazy episodes?" Damon's father use to beat him. I know it doesn't talk about it in the show, but it mentions it in the books, and the show is doing a pretty good job at keeping that relationship the same, so I've decided to use it in this story for that reason. Guest, whoever left that review, thanks for stating that…I totally forgot that some people might not read the books, and so they might not understand that part. (I mean that with all genuine seriousness, too.) I hope that you all continue to review, because if you don't you will not know how I intend to end this story. Hopefully you all are enjoying it so far, and if you aren't then you can tell me. Criticism is nothing that I shy away from. Thank you to all my reviewers, I never thought I would get this many people so into my story, even if the guests are all the same person and that person is a regular, account-owning reader, who decided to review anonymously. I have done that, there's no shame in it, at least not in my eyes, LOL. Okay, so this is getting much longer than I wanted it to be, so I am going to shut-up and let you get to the story. Thank you for reading this and I hope that it will take away any confusion you may have. Please enjoy chapter seven, and review at the end for 7 yr. old Damon, if not for me or the story. Thanks again. :)**

* * *

Chapter 7: Survival Tactics

Caroline knows what she has to do. She stands in Stefan's room, pondering over how to keep her sire alive. There are angry vampires lurking around, trying to harm the Salvatore brothers, maybe even kill them. Caroline does not want Damon to be fed from anymore, and she doesn't want to be craving his blood whenever she's around him. She knows Stefan keeps vervain in his room for protection, so she snatches a vial of it off of his dresser and walks out of the room. She's going to save Damon, her sire, and in doing so, she'll have saved Stefan as well.

"Damon?" She asks as she enters the dining room. She sees Damon sitting quietly on a chair with his head in his hands. She notices that he looks a little pale and wan, but she just brushes that thought off.

"Hmm…?" He answers back.

"You look tired." Caroline says casually.

"Yeah, I guess so; I feel a little drained today." Damon says in an annoyed tone, as he sits up.

"I have something for you." Caroline says as she sits in the chair next to Damon and sets the small vial of vervain on the table.

"You want me to drink vervain." Damon asks incredulously.

"Yes, I think it would be smart. All the humans are, and whether you like it or not Damon you are human, so drink up." She explains.

Damon rolls his eyes, "Since when do you care?"

"Well, I was made a promise to be taken to a 19th century style dance, and I am going to make sure that I get what I'm owed." Caroline says, but she's a horrible liar, and Damon knows what she's really saying: stay alive; because I need you, we need you, you selfish butt. Caroline pushes the vial closer to him, until it's up against his arm.

"Uggh…fine. You're incessant badgering is giving me a headache, Barbie." Damon says, but he can't seem to help the genuine smile that forms on his lips. He unscrews the cap and downs the entire thing. He groans in disgust as he sets the now empty container down.

"What? Does it still affect you?" Caroline asks, suddenly alert.

"No, no, I just never liked the taste of the stuff, even when I was human. It's nasty." Damon makes a face.

Caroline laughs, "Damon, you're antics never cease to amaze me."

Damon grins and laughs in response. "So, Stefan isn't telling me anything. What did you all find out yesterday about my little predicament?"

"Well," Caroline bites her lip. She doesn't want to stress him out and cause another episode, but she's not a good liar either. She's about to say something, when a loud crash comes through the window and the door bursts open at the same time. Twenty vampires rush into the room and start attacking them. Caroline screams as she desperately tries to fight them off.

She's barely able to manage one, but she's going to protect Damon. She doesn't know when the others joined her, but at one point she notices the others are fighting alongside her and Damon is not in the room. She hopes that he found a place to hide, and that maybe and hopefully Elena's with him. The two humans should be protected in this. _Alaric doesn't count, because he has a magical ring,_ she thinks to herself as she continues to fight her many adversaries.

However, the fact that Alaric has a magical ring doesn't mean that he is invincible, but it sure does make her feel better, about his well-being.

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"Ahh…" Damon screams as the vampire viciously bites into his neck.

"Damon!" Elena screams as she struggles against the hands that are restraining her. She stops and frowns when she sees the vampire let go and throw Damon at her feet. He is losing a lot of blood, but Elena is more interested in the vampire that's now choking. _Why is he choking?_ When she hears coughing sounds and moans of pain below her she remembers Damon and is once again struggling against the vampire that is holding her, a little too tightly.

"Garrett, what's wrong?" She hears her assaulter say.

"Vervain!" He manages to choke out. The vampire, however, regains his composure and starts to walk towards them, when he stops and his eyes grow wide with horror.

"Garrett!" Her restrainer shouts, as his friend grays and falls to the ground.

Elena cannot believe her eyes when she sees who her savior is. It's…

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"Pearl?" Stefan asks as he turns around and looks at the vampire with the stake in her hand. A vampire is dead at her feet.

"And Katherine." Caroline says as she watches Katherine take down her two assaulters.

"Well, looks like you've pissed off some very vengeful tomb vampires, Stefan." Anna says as she shows up from nowhere in the middle of the room.

A vampire immediately goes for Pearl, but she anticipates this and chokes the vampire until Katherine rips his heart out. She immediately goes limp and shrivels up.

"I told you we'd be in touch." Katherine purrs as she looks over at Stefan.

The rest of the vampires leave out of fear.

"Oh, good another one of my students is a vampire. Can I teach anything to anybody?" Alaric asks.

"I always learn in your class, Mr. Saltzman." Annabelle says kindly.

"It's not every day I allow my child in the room with a vampire hunter and killer." Pearl says through a straight face. They all understand the threat underneath those words and say nothing.

"He's fine, Mama. He's really kind, and plus he knows Stefan and Damon are vampires." Anna explains.

Stefan's eyes grow wide at that that statement and he frantically looks around him, but he cannot find his brother. "Damon!" He shouts, hoping to get a response.

"Stefan!" He hears Elena's voice, "Stefan, hurry!" She screams.

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"Damon?" Jeremy asks.

"Damon, look at me, this isn't 1847 anymore." Elena says kindly.

Damon has his hand on his now healed neck and is frantically looking around, "How'd I get here?" He asks in a fearful voice.

"Damon?" Elena and Jeremy turn to see Stefan approaching them, with his full attention on Damon huddled against the wall crying into his hands.

"Stefan, this is trauma." Caroline says in a heavy voice.

Stefan sighs and closes his eyes. He wants to will this not to happen, "This is too much trauma." He says under his breath.

Jeremy doesn't seem to understand what's going on, but he knows it's not good.

"Damon?" Stefan asks as he gets on his knees and starts inching his way towards his brother.

"Please, stop! I don't know who you are!" Damon screams.

"Damon, please, it's me it's your brother, Stefan." Stefan says carefully.

"I don't have a brother. My mom is sick and pregnant and Father says I have to be with her, or he'll do more horrible things." Damon says in a panic.

"Damon, look at me, look around you, this isn't 1847 anymore." Stefan pleads as he inches closer.

"Why are you lying to me?" Damon screams, "Don't come any closer."

Stefan stops where he is, a mere four feet from his brother.

Damon suddenly feels a pounding in his head and his stomach is hurting. In fact now that he thinks about it, his whole body is aching and hurting for reasons he doesn't know. He groans in pain as he suppresses a shiver and clutches his head and his stomach.

"Damon." Elena breathes, "What's going on, Stefan?"

"He's dying." Caroline manages to get out.

Damon falls to his knees and before he falls to the ground face first, his brother is there to catch him. "Please, I'll be good. I didn't do anything." Damon moans weakly.

"Bonnie, please find a way to fix this. We don't have much time." Caroline pleads.

Bonnie can't help but cry herself. She nods to Caroline's plea and rushes back into the house, passed the others.

"This spell is killing him?" Anna asks.

Caroline nods, "He won't make it to Saturday at this rate." She says.

"I think I know something that can help Bonnie." Anna says and she and her mother use their vampire speed to be with Bonnie to help her. Jeremy dashes in after her with Elena, Katherine, and Alaric right behind him.

Caroline however, rushes up to find Stefan and Damon. When she reaches Stefan's bedroom door she listens.

"Damon? Can you remember me?" She hears Stefan's barely composed voice ask. Then she hears choked sobbing and figures that Damon must have indicated the negative. She opens the door and can't believe the scene before her.

Damon's wrapped up in covers to his shoulders and Stefan's sitting on a chair by the bedside sobbing uncontrollably. However, that's not even the worst part, when she sees Damon, with that look of fear and wonder in his eyes along with weakness and glassed over eyes, she wants to cry herself.

Damon barely seems alive.

"Stefan?" Caroline asks softly. "May I speak to him?"

Stefan looks up at her and then stands up and looks back down at his shell of a brother. He brushes the raven locks from his eyes and is gone before Caroline could say anymore. All she feels is wind going by her, and she's alone. She walks over to Damon's bedside and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Damon, if you're still in there, I need you to hear this. You're scaring the crap out of everyone, even Katherine, Pearl, Anna, and Jeremy, and they don't even like you; although I will give you this, they tolerate you." She adds more to cheer up herself.

"Damon, you need to understand this, you can't die. For whatever reason, we all care about you and don't want to lose you." Caroline explains as she sobs more and more openly.

"I need you. Please. I'd hate to say it, but I've been waiting for you to ask me out for a while now, and you have no idea how badly I am looking forward to you and me at the dance." Caroline says.

Damon swallows hard and coughs a little, while Caroline is talking. He feels very sleepy and there are strange people all around him and he doesn't want to be beaten anymore, but maybe these people aren't so bad. This girl seems to know him, and is really heartbroken over something to do with him. He sighs and starts to relax. His eyelids grow heavy and before he could think of something to say everything goes black.

After Caroline sees his eyes roll back into his head, Caroline just plain sobs into Damon's shoulder. She doesn't realize when his body seems to grow in size, but suddenly she realizes this when she clutches Damon's arm tighter. She looks up and starts to calm down when she sees that Damon is normal sized again and covered Stefan's covers. Bonnie broke the spell. _Damon's saved_, She thinks to herself.

However, things quickly take a turn for the worst, when she notices Damon shriveling up and graying right before her eyes. She can't accept it, and she won't. _Damon's not dead! He's not dead!_

"Damon!" She screams as she desperately tries to wake him up.

She notices the door bursts open and reveals an unreadable Stefan in the doorway. He's staring at his brother's dead body with unbearable pain, loss, and something that she can't quite place, but she's afraid of nonetheless.

* * *

**AN: Wow! Aren't I mean? Don't worry it's not over yet. So stay tuned. Hopefully I'll be able to write more and get it uploaded by Monday; if not then I guess you'll have to wait till next weekend. Sorry, blame my school if you want, but that's the way it goes. Okay, so Damon's dead, bet you never saw that one coming. Stefan's…okay, you know what I'm not going to spoil it. Please review if you want more. The more reviews I get the more likely I am to have this up by Monday night. I'd love to know what you think, so please review and I'll return soon. **


	8. Chapter 8: How Did This Happen?

Chapter 8: How Did This Happen?

_I remember going down to Bonnie and she was frantically looking for answers when she saw me enter. I remember that the look in my eyes told her we don't have long. She nodded and everyone around her got back to what they were doing. I remember the look on Bonnie's face when she said that she found something. My hopes were so high, and they only grew when she finished chanting. However, that was only for a moment because suddenly Bonnie looked up at him, her eyes filled with horror. Stefan remembers knowing what that look meant, and nothing could make him believe it until they all heard Caroline's scream coming from upstairs. He ran up there as fast as he could. He burst the door open and couldn't believe his eyes. Damon was lying in his bed, fully grown, but he was gray and shriveled up. He was…He was dead. _

Stefan recalls the moments when he found out that he'd never hear his brother's "Damon humor" again, the moment when he'd found out he'd never be able hate or love his brother again in a moment of impulsive feelings. He can't bare it, and the worst part is, is that he has to keep his brother's death a secret. The sheriff was Damon's friend as well as the other council members and they'll never know why he will never attend another council meeting. Stefan will have to continue on like nothing ever happened.

"Stefan, would you like to say something?" Alaric asks. They are burying his brother at the old Salvatore estate, so no one else can see them. At least Stefan will know where his brother is, because there will be no gravestone to mark his burial space. It's as if Damon Salvatore will cease to exist in the world. At least they were able to wrap up the body, and have as authentic a funeral as they could.

Stefan nods; he knows he'll regret it if he refuses, but he's not ready. Then again, when will he ever be ready? He steps up to the front of the large hole in the ground, that's about to consume his brother. "My brother was a fighter. Throughout our life as humans he always fought our father's rules, he always wanted to do things his way, and he let feelings consume him, and then we became vampires and his personality became magnified. His temper became more volatile, and his ability to love became stronger, but it was buried under a century and a half of hurt and pain, which he liked to bottle up inside of himself. We only just regained a sense of normalcy with each other, when this happened, and thanks to Caroline, I got to see how my brother truly felt for me before…" Stefan couldn't bring himself to say the words, "I've always wondered what it would be like once Damon died, and sometimes I actually found myself wishing that I'd never forced Damon to drink the blood of the girl, that I'd let him die that fateful night, but if he had I would've never gotten to know him. I never got to apologize to him for forcing him to turn, and some part of me will never know if it was actually him that wanted to die or rather just his impulsive feelings telling him that he should die. Oh, gosh, Damon, why did you leave me? How am I supposed to continue on without you? You promised me an eternity of misery, but I guess you never would've imagined that you would actually truly make me hopeless nearly a century and a half later? Goodbye, Brother." Stefan finishes in a small voice. He completely breaks down. Elena has to help him walk away. No one has ever seen Stefan so broken and sad.

Bonnie just remains motionless and impassive to everything around her, because she let them down. She let Stefan down. Stefan's her friend and he's breaking down in front of her. She wishes she would have found the spell earlier, but in fact it wasn't her that found the spell, it was Pearl. Apparently she had actually seen something like this and did some digging when she first saw Damon, and she was going to come over to tell them how to fix it, when we were attacked. Damon could have been saved, and instead he's dead. She wonders how Stefan's going to fare in all of this. He seemed not just broken, but shattered. She closes her eyes, if only she had been quicker, then her friends wouldn't be mourning and Stefan wouldn't be in shambles. Bonnie knows that if Stefan loses it, Elena will too. She wonders why she hasn't already lost it, since Damon's died, but she understands. Elena's only seen Damon as a friend, and they sort of lost their connection when he killed Jeremy. Of course, Jeremy easily forgave Damon, and he was able to talk his sister into forgiveness as well, but Bonnie knows that she's been hardened towards him.

"Damon was my sire. I never really gave it much it thought until recently. He promised to take me to a dance, and secretly I've been waiting for him to ask me out for a while now. My future with Matt ended when I became a vampire, and Damon showed that to me when he tried to kill me that night at the carnival. He said that I'm already dead, and I didn't want to believe him, but I knew what that meant. Damon, I will miss you, because I will never be able to forget you." Caroline finishes. She's now crying, but unlike Stefan she's doing it audibly.

Alaric now gets up to say something, "Damon, what can I say, you've killed me once, and it couldn't have been more painful, but I know that you've experienced death before, when you were shot and you had to go through transition. I have no idea how we ended up as friends, but I always thought that it would be you speaking at my funeral, not the other way around." Alaric can't bring himself to say more. He doesn't cry, but Bonnie sees something in his eyes, that makes it clear that he's as broken over the loss as Caroline and Stefan are. He awkwardly eyes the grave as he goes to stand near Elena, Stefan, and Caroline.

"I saved you from the fire, so you could live your undead life, not so you could waste it and die!" Bonnie exclaims. She was exhausted after that spell, and Damon had to go and die. Everyone knows that she's hurt over the loss, despite her words. Her tone makes that clear.

"Rest in peace, Damon." Katherine says. Bonnie looks over at her, and studies her. The vampire doesn't notice her, because she's staring at the grave with a mixture of awe, hurt, confusion, and wonder. Katherine has found a way to escape every single death threat that has come her way, so of course the grave would seem surreal to her, heck it's Damon that's in the grave. Damon's found a way to wheedle or be wheedled out of every threat and every near death experience, either with his brother or by himself. If this could happen to Damon, then who's to say that any of them are safe.

Bonnie glances over at Jeremy and sees his hands interlace with Anna's. They both don't say anything, but they stare at the grave with hardened expressions. Bonnie can, for some reason understand Jeremy's feelings, but it's Anna's feelings that she doesn't seem to get. Damon and Anna, as Bonnie understands it, had a sort of agreement and respect for each other. Damon also respected Pearl a little as well. Bonnie looks over at Pearl, and sees her indifferent expression. Bonnie doesn't expect her to feel anything, especially because as far as she knew Damon and Stefan had died that night in the Battle of Willow Creek. She wakes up from desiccation and finds a century and a half older world and a very vampire Damon and Stefan Salvatore. She didn't get to know Damon that well, and Bonnie commends her for even being here. She's offering support, where it's needed and that's what a good person does.

cscscscscscscscscscscscscscs cscscscscscscscscscscscscscs cscscscscscscs

Bonnie doesn't know what to say. They have buried the body and now they are at the boarding house in tense silence, eating and drinking tea. She looks up at Stefan and all she sees is a shell. Stefan's eyes look dry and red, and his shoulders are hunched in on himself. He just simply stares at the ground not bothering to blink or move or make any noise at all. Bonnie doesn't know what to do so she keeps silent. Elena however, is trying to get any sort of response out of Stefan. She's rubbing his back and whispering sweet nothings to him, while still trying to hold back her own tears. Bonnie can't bring herself to tell her naively hopeful friend that Stefan is gone, he died with his brother.

Caroline walks over to Bonnie and sits down next her. Caroline brings her knees up to her chest as she sinks back against the couch. "How are you faring, Caroline?" Bonnie asks.

Caroline looks at her with a pained expression, "He's gone, Bonnie." She's only able to say that, but that speaks volumes. Her voice is hoarse from the crying and her eyes are covered in tearstains. It seems that everyone who's going to cry over Damon's loss has already done so, and now they only need to cope with the loss and the new future that is before them.

"Annabelle, perhaps we should go home." Pearl says as she stands up. Her daughter nods in solemn agreement and she exits the house with Pearl. They all feel a whoosh go by them and they look around already knowing that Katherine wouldn't be there anymore.

Alaric decides to go home to Jenna to make up some lie as to why Jeremy and Elena will appear so broken. Jeremy and Elena reluctantly follow Ric as he exits the house. They hear a car pull out of the driveway and head onto the road.

"Good night, Stefan." Caroline says simply as she stands up and exits the room.

Bonnie is the last to leave, but before she does, she decides to say something to the dejected Salvatore. "Stefan?"

She sees him close his eyes at her voice and his breathing becomes labored, but he doesn't cry and doesn't respond.

"I'm so, so sorry. I failed you, and I wish that I had gotten the spell earlier, I really do." Bonnie says as she pats Stefan's shoulder and she stands up. She's about to walk out of the door.

"Bonnie." She hears Stefan's voice. She looks over at him, and she can't help but tear up at the sight of his red, swollen, tearstained face. "It wasn't your fault. My brother's gone."

She frowns and leaves. She pulls out of the driveway and is headed home. Suddenly she stops when she sees a person limply lying on the road. She stops the car and gets out and rushes over to the person. He groans softly in pain when she flips his dirty form over to see who it is. She's about to ask if he's alright, when her eyes want to bug out of their sockets. "Oh, my gosh!" She swallows hard in realization, and she frowns. _Is this a dream?_ She asks herself stupidly. This can't be real, unless she…did it. Everything's going to be okay, now, and Bonnie can't help but smile inwardly and let her insides warm up from the newfound hope that's building up inside her.

She didn't want to see Stefan in a ripper phase, and she certainly did not want to see her best friends lose it in their own ways trying to cope with the loss and help Stefan in the meantime, and now she doesn't have to, because it's going to be alright. He's going to be alright, and Bonnie isn't sure who she's talking about, but one thing's for sure, she's got to act fast.

**The End?**

**AN: Okay, so I'm writing a sequel. It may or may not be a one-shot. I haven't thought that deeply into it yet, but stay tuned. The third story to be posted on my profile, will be the sequel, so don't worry I will finish this story up. Please review and let me know what you think. I thought that going into everyone's relationship with Damon was interesting, and I enjoyed writing it from Bonnie's perspective on those parts, because I thought her character would be the best to do that from. Oh, and by the way, cscscs…means change scene, numerous times. I thought I should do that, since I've noticed that my large parts in between those different scenes aren't showing on the site. Just thought I should clarify that. Okay, so this is the last Chapter to Oh, Brother, let me know what you think. Who did Bonnie find on the side of the road? I think it's really obvious though. I certainly hope that you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I can't wait to read your reviews and criticisms. Remember stay tuned, because the sequel should be up and on the site by next Monday night. **

**~Thank you for reading all the story, all my author's notes, and most of all for those of you who did, thanks for reviewing. :)**


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